The OCRS will be closing with effect from 31 Dec 2025 - read more here.
About the OCRS
Established in 2016, the Online Centre for Religious Studies aims to promote and facilitate the academic study of religion for a wide and diverse audience.
Study religion online
Our courses will take you from the basics of what a religion is (or isn't!), right through to a detailed exploration of the key faiths alive today.
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Download free digital resources for personal use, or to assist in the classroom.
The End
2 September 2025 | Luke Burns
The OCRS will be closing with effect 31 December 2025. I started this project because I wanted to provide people with a source of clear, simple information on religious traditions from around the world, to act as a bridge between sometimes dense and esoteric academic writers and the general public, to expand people’s awareness of spiritual concepts, and perhaps give a little balance in a conversation too often prone to animosity and misunderstanding.
Religions are languages, not brands
9 October 2023 | Jonas Atlas
When we speak of religions today, they are often described like products in a supermarket: packages of beliefs, rules of conduct, symbols, and rituals, which are offered by specific brands. These brands advertise their own particular product range: reincarnation in the package of one religion, a heaven in that of the other; prayer in the package of one religion, meditation in that of the other; priests in the package of one religion, rabbis in that of the other.
What the Weltanschauung!?
20 June 2022 | Luke Burns
In June 2022 the Independent Schools Religious Studies Association (ISRSA) published a response to the 2018 proposal by the Commission on Religious Education to overhaul the subject of Religious Education, make it more academically focused, and rename it to Religion and Worldviews. We have previously covered the proposed change, and its challenges, here: Religion and Worldviews (24 February 2019). This article was updated by Luke Burns on 22nd June 2022